The Rumor That Jeopardized Everything
by WhiteCollarLover
Summary: Inspired by Luke’s expression when he asked Rory what she did hear when she asked him if there was anything new with him, I asked myself how it would be if Lorelai would get the news about Luke’s daughter not from him but from one of the town's people.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: This wonderful show belongs to Amy Sherman-Palladino and her husband Daniel Palladino. I would never have imagined that there would be such a terrific show on TV – ever! So thank you for all that you created and thank you very much for the wonderful characters you invented. I only want to play with them and write some fantasies about them. I don't want to hurt any law. It's all yours, but the fantasies are mine.

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**Author's note: I was inspired by Luke's expression when he asked Rory what she did hear when she asked him if there was anything new with him. He looked totally trapped and so I asked myself how it would be if Lorelai would get the news about Luke's daughter not from him but from one of the town's people. **

**I hope you enjoy my story and review my work. It's a pleasure to write down what's in my head, so please tell me how you like it.**

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**The Rumor That Jeopardized Everything**

**Chapter One**

"Lorelai!" Babette called, running down the street toward her. "Sugar, wait!" She called again. Lorelai stopped, hearing the always husky voice of her little neighbor thundering through the street she just walked down toward her jeep, enjoying the wintry air and – of course – the hot coffee in the huge takeout cup.

The town was busy as always this time of year. Thanksgiving was around the door. A few days left before she had all her beloved family and friends around her. A few days before the big dinner in the Dragonfly Inn – _her_ Dragonfly Inn, that was finally out of the red numbers. That was a reason to be happy and Lorelai _was_ happy. Not only because of the black marks in the books but because Rory was back. Finally. After three months of hurt, pain, tears and worry that she had made a bad job with her daughter, she was happy again. They were still in catch-up mode but it almost felt as if nothing bad had ever happened between them.

Lorelai turned around, watching Babette, who now was only a few feet away from her. "Babette, slow down, hon', I won't go anywhere."

Completely out of breath, Babette stopped in front of Lorelai, gasping and coughing furiously.

"Lorelai…there is a…rumor and…I need you to confirm…it." She still was out of breath but she looked expectantly at Lorelai like a kid that was about to learn why the banana was bent.

"Honey, what rumor?"

"Well, the rumor about Luke being the father of a dark haired, glasses wearing girl that is about 10 or so years old and that came to his diner, wearing a monstrous helmet on her head and asking Luke for some hair to take a DNA-test to find out which of the men her mother has dated is her father." Babette felt slightly dizzy after that long sentence without taking one breath, but not as dizzy as Lorelai who paled instantly, feeling her legs wobble in her high heels.

She forced herself to calm down, knowing that this stupid town had always the strangest rumors around it. Either Kirk lost a hand during Tai Chi or Taylor created a new ice cream flavor that tasted like grasshoppers or bugs or some other disgusting crawling animal. So why not today talking about Luke having a daughter?

"Babette, I have no idea what you are talking about. Luke hasn't told me anything about a strange girl coming to his diner. Who tells you such trash?" Lorelai couldn't believe what the people in town coming up with to entertain their boring lives. She was beginning to get mad at them because this time she was personally involved in that rumor. Well, not she personally, but Luke. But she was Luke's fiancée, so she was indeed personally involved, because his life was her life too now. And if there was a child in the picture, he would have told her, right?

_Right?_

Right.

Especially after their fight about Christopher's call. They'd agreed to tell each other everything from now on, so Lorelai was sure that he would have told her anything about a girl that claims to be his daughter. Lorelai was sure that she knew Luke well enough to be able to sense when he was hiding something from her. So there was no question, this rumor had to be nothing but a rumor.

"Well, Andrew was in the diner when the girl came in. And Gypsy told me that the helmet the girl wore must have been handmade because it was part bike helmet and part hockey helmet, you know the thing with the safety in front of the face. And Taylor saw the girl from his shoppe as well. Andrew heard her telling Luke something about three men who may be her father and that she wants to take a DNA-test to finally know which of the men her father is. I'm sorry, sugar, but it sounded all so real. Maybe Luke didn't want to upset you without being sure what that DND-test said." She looked compassionately at Lorelai.

Lorelai wasn't so sure what to say about what she'd just heard. It made no sense. Why should Luke hide such a huge thing from her?

"Well, then he can't be that girl's father, because he certainly would have told me if the test would have been positive. He wouldn't hide such thing from me, Babette," Lorelai said, reassuring herself.

"Um, Babette, I have to go. The Inn has a huge birthday-party tonight and I have to do a thousand things before the guests arrive. Just forget about all this stupid talking, okay? Say Morey hi, bye Babette."

"Of course, sugar, I'll do. Have fun at the Inn."

Lorelai waved to Babette one last time and hurried toward her jeep, driving off as quickly as she could. Her mind was reeling. It had been true; she had to be at the Inn by now. Michel would be furious and Sookie would be worried already because she'd told them that she would be at the Inn at noon and now it was already close to one. There were so many tasks to accomplish that day until the party began, but now, hearing all that stuff from Babette, she couldn't shake her mind off it.

Suddenly there was a reason for Luke appearing kind of distracted the last few days. She remembered him sitting in front of the TV watching a game, but he'd seemed oddly absent. She'd had to call him three times until he'd heard her and when she'd sat beside him, he hadn't even laid an arm around her like he usually did.

He always seemed to be deep in thought, and at night when they would lay in bed together, he didn't start to make out or even get further. She'd thought that it was just a phase, a guy-thing or something, but now…

What did that mean? She would have to find out. She couldn't wait. She was too confused to work now. She took her cell phone and dialed the Inn.

"Hello, Michel speaking. What can I do for you?" Trusty Michel answered the phone like he always did.

"Hi, Michel, this is Lore—"

"Ah, well, where are you? We are waiting forever. What takes you so long to drive here and do the things you are supposed to?" Michel said indignantly.

"Michel, give me Sookie please. I don't have the time to explain right now. It's kind of a family emergency," Lorelai said but did not hope so.

She heard a shuffle, a door being opened and a muffled "Here, it's for you" before the sound of Sookie's voice came on.

"Hello?"

"Sookie, it's me. How's it going?"

"Lorelai, is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me, are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine now. You know, I had to take something out of the freezer, but my fingers were still a bit wet after washing my hands, so three of them got stuck to the ice and I couldn't get them off. Michel called 911 and the paramedics came and they pulled my fingers off the ice, but a little of my skin still stuck to the ice, so I have a dressing on my right hand." Sookie explained animatedly her newest stunt in the kitchen.

"Oh, my God, Sookie! How often did I tell you to be more careful?" Lorelai couldn't believe it. There wasn't a day without Sookie having an accident in the kitchen.

"So, what did you want, Lorelai? Why aren't you here? What happened?" Sookie asked her best friend, always sensing that there was something wrong with her, even on the phone.

Lorelai didn't answer right away. Now that Sookie was kind of injured and only able to use her left hand, she had to be at the Inn to help where she could and do the things she had to do for the big party tonight. She couldn't let her friends down to investigate some stupid rumor. Maybe that girl had just been one of the soccer girls who wanted to impress someone with playing CSI – claiming she could make a DNA-test and using Luke, the supporter of the team for that mission.

"Lorelai, you still there?"

"Yes, I'm still there, Sookie. Okay, listen, I'll be at the Inn in 10 minutes. We'll talk when I'm there. Please keep the coffee pot full for me, will ya?" With that she closed her phone and drove to the Inn, still confused, still unsure of what was going on behind her back. She wanted so much to talk to Luke, but she wouldn't have the time to do so until she got home and that wouldn't be until very late this night because of that stupid birthday party.

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**So, that was chapter one. How did you like it? Was it a good beginning? The next chapter is already in my head, I only have to write it all down. Be prepared for a nice talk between Lorelai and Luke.**


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: This wonderful show belongs to Amy Sherman-Palladino and her husband Daniel Palladino. I would never have imagined that there would be such a terrific show on TV – ever! So thank you for all that you created and thank you very much for the wonderful characters you invented. I only want to play with them and write some fantasies about them. I don't want to hurt any law. It's all yours, but the fantasies are mine.

**Author's note: So, guys, here is now chapter two. **

**I want to thank everyone for the nice reviews! The first reviews got lost due to a re-upload of the first chapter, so, please, if you can't find your review then write it again. I would appreciate the effort. **

**I'm sorry that it took me so long to write the second chapter but it's not that easy to create a character that we don't know from yet. Anna Nardini is a complete stranger to anyone of us, so I hope that you like her a little bit even though she brought someone into the Gilmore-World you may not like very much, namely April.**

**Don't forget to review this chapter so I know what you think about "my" Anna.**

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The Rumor That Jeopardized Everything  
Chapter Two**

Luke was cursing this day already. Nothing went as smoothly as usual. Kirk was getting on his nerves – although _that_ was usual – Miss Patty and Babette were scrutinizing him from the farthest table without even eating something. He didn't like their muted conversation because he assumed that it was about him and this made him most uncomfortable and fidgeting. He'd already dropped a glass and his spatula went south a few times when he was cooking.

"Boss, go out of my way, will ya? You aren't any help, so please out!" Ceasar yelled and almost flung a spoon at Luke when he tried to turn the hamburgers on the grill, but dropping two of them to the floor. So he left the kitchen defeated and cursing under his breath that he would scratch this day from the calendar as soon as he gets home this night.

Luke was strolling through the diner, coffee pot in hand, filling every cup as wanted, but not talking to any guest at all. They seemed to be noticing his bad mood because no one was making any silly comment or trying to tease him altogether. He didn't know what was bugging him so much. It was, of course, the girl that was annoying him although she hadn't even come back to his diner after he went to her school, finding out that he had indeed a twelve-year old daughter. He'd been kind of shocked about the news, but then again, he was kind of flattered, too. He had a daughter for God's sake. There was someone in this stupid world who had his genes in them. That was unbelievable but it was true He had it black on white in a thick folder. This folder was hidden in his apartment because he didn't want Lorelai to find it. He felt already sick because he should have told her the minute he learned about his fatherhood but it was way too difficult to talk about something that was so completely unbelievable, even for him. He couldn't even imagine how Lorelai would react, so he put off telling her day after day after day. But the more days he waited the more he got afraid to tell her. It was a circle he couldn't escape.

He and Lorelai were facing a changing point of their relationship. They were engaged and it wouldn't be long before they talked about a wedding date. Now that Rory was back in their life – thank God the girl had finally figured out what was most important in her life, namely her mother – Lorelai was happy again and wanted to set the special date sooner than later. He would have been excited about this as well as Lorelai was but on that very same day that Rory had come back, Luke had learned about his fatherhood and in that moment he'd felt as if a huge hole had opened and sucked him down into a downstream he couldn't quite escape.

Now almost two weeks later his nerves hadn't settled at all. He was still trying to figure out what it meant to be a father. It was bothering him that April still hadn't contacted him after the science fair. What was the girl thinking? Dropping a bomb like that on him and then leaving him alone with this news and never calling or visiting him again? He could have had a heart attack. Didn't she care? Or what about her mother? Why didn't she tell him about April in the first place?

Luke was just about to clean the counter after a little boy spilled his apple juice when the telephone rang behind him on the wall.

"Luke's," he answered the phone in his always gruffly manner.

"May I speak to Luke Danes, please?" came the woman's voice through the receiver that Luke almost dropped the moment he recognized who it was.

"I…I'm on the phone, A…Anna," he answered completely bewildered.

"Ah, very good. How are you, Luke?"

"You are calling me after almost thirteen years to ask me how I am? I'll tell you how I am! Your daughter came in here, telling me some crap about a science project and wanting some hair from me to find out who her father is, and can you imagine it, I am her father. Good story, huh? So you want again to ask me how I am?" Luke had himself spoken in a rage and gotten louder with every word. Everyone in the diner was looking at him questioningly. He turned toward them and said very annoyed, "Mind your own business, will ya?"

When he turned his attention back to the phone, he heard Anna say, "…maybe we should meet to talk about everything. What do you say?"

"Well, I'd say don't you think that's a little too late for that? but that wouldn't bring us anywhere, would it? So, yeah, okay. How about tonight?"

Maybe it was best to finally talk to Anna about April and what part he might have in her future life. Luke suddenly realized that he wanted to be a part in the girl's future, no matter what. He already had lost twelve years and he didn't want to loose any more years or even months. Of course he had to tell Lorelai as soon as possible but tonight she had that party at the Inn and it was a good opportunity to talk everything through with Anna first and after that he would talk to Lorelai and deal with her reaction, either it was good or bad.

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Lorelai went to her office, her thoughts at Luke's and the man in particular. She just couldn't suppress the conversation with Babette and wanted at least a few words of confirmation or rather that the rumor wasn't true at all. So she sat down at her desk and took the receiver of the phone, dialing the well known number of the diner.

"Luke's."

Lorelai was so surprised to hear Ceasar's voice instead of Luke's that she couldn't talk for a second. When she found her voice again, she said, "Ceasar, it's Lorelai, where's Luke?"

"Oh, hello Lorelai," Ceasar answered cheeringly with his Spanish accent. "I'm sorry, Luke's gone out. There was a phone call and after that he told me to close the diner tonight and then he left."

"He told you to close up? So he won't come back tonight?" _Now what's that supposed to mean?_

"It seems so, Lorelai. Uh, I'm sorry, Lorelai, I have to go back to the kitchen, the diner is packed. Fortunately Luke could ask Lane to come over and help me out. Bye, Lorelai."

Lorelai didn't even have the chance to say goodbye, because Ceasar had already hung up. So she hung up as well and took her cell phone, speed-dialing number two, Luke's cell phone, but looking at her phone incredulously when she got only the mailbox. Not believing that Luke might have turned off his phone she dialed again but it turned out the same. _Now what's that supposed to mean?_ she thought again, getting now slightly angry because Luke never turned off his phone. He was always available for her, no matter what he was doing when she called. _So he's really hiding something from me_, Lorelai thought sadly.

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Anna Nardini was nervous. Seeing her ex-boyfriend again after thirteen years wasn't easy, especially when she was the one who'd dumped him without a single word of explanation. She would always remember the hurt look in Luke's eyes when she told him that she didn't want to see him anymore. He didn't question her, though. He'd only nodded, turned around and driven off in full speed. She knew that it hadn't been fair of her to end their relationship like this only a few days left for their one-year anniversary. They'd already made plans for the special day, although Luke hadn't wanted to celebrate this day at all, because in his opinion no one should celebrate the duration of a relationship that could be breaking at the drop of a hat when the first fight or misunderstanding occurred. And how right Luke had been.

As soon as she'd found out that she was pregnant she broke up with Luke and moved to Long Island, having her baby there and living there for almost six years, only moving back to Litchfield because her mother had been ill. Taking care of her mother had been the hardest time for Anna, because her mother hadn't been a very grateful patient. She'd loathed her daughter for the humiliation and embarrassment she'd caused the family by having a child without the support of a caring husband. But if that time had been unbearable for Anna it had been hell for little April. The girl had been completely ignored by her grandmother. But being five years old and a somewhat smart child, she'd buried herself into any kind of books she could find in the grandmother's library.

For Anna the happiest hour of the day had been when she was reading and talking to her little girl at night before April had gone to sleep. They would talk about their days, about school, about the kids and teachers at school, about any problems that occurred, and she would try to answer any question April would have about anything she'd read in the books. It hadn't been easy to answer all those questions but Anna knew very early that her beloved baby was something special and that she had to support the curiosity of her little daughter.

When Anna's mother died after a long year of suffering, Anna hadn't expected to inherit anything from her, but she'd been surprised that the will said that she would get her parent's house. Of course April hadn't been mentioned in the will and because of that Anna had played with the thought of selling the house in that her daughter had been treated as if she wasn't even there, but seeing April every day sitting in the library reading and forgetting the rejection of her grandmother, had made Anna change her mind. April had still been young enough to forget the painful disapproval of her grandmother.

Now she would see the father of her child again after thirteen years. She didn't know how Luke would react to everything she had to tell him and she was sure that she wouldn't have told him anything if April hadn't had this terrifying idea of finding her real father for that science project. But now Luke knew and Anna finally realized that is was only fair that he knew. But telling him the complete truth would be painful, for Anna as well as for Luke.

When the doorbell rang, Anna threw a last look in the mirror. Not being very satisfied with her looks she put on all the strength and optimism she could muster up and opened the door.

"Hello Luke..."

"Hey Anna…"

They'd spoken at the same time, but Anna was the first to speak again after a few awkward moments.

"Come on in, Luke. I hope I didn't disturb you from something important. I know you're very busy with your diner. April told me how busy it was when she was there." She was babbling, she knew. But she was so nervous. He hadn't changed at all. He was still the handsome man with the baseball cap backwards on his head and an outworn green parka over his plaid flannel shirt, his deep blue eyes that could look so intense, so loving and so concerned. Like now. She averted her gaze from Luke's eyes, sensing that he probably saw too much in her eyes.

"Is she here? I'd like to see her again, you know. I'm a bit confused that she didn't call me or visit me again in the diner. You know it's not very nice to drop a bomb like this and then disappear as if nothing ever happened. I mean I have a daughter. Can you believe it? I never even knew that I had unprotected… I always thought you…And then she explained to me that I'm her father. Well, I can tell you that I would have liked it much more to have gotten this information a lot earlier and it would have been very nice if this information had come from you." After his rant, Luke took a deep breath before he continued, "So please, Anna, what the hell happened?"

Silently Anna motioned Luke to the living room and asked him to sit down on a couch where she'd arranged tea and pastries on the coffee table. She sat down opposite him on an armchair, trying to find the right words.

"Luke, I know that you should have been the first one to learn the good news about me being pregnant but you would have left me anyway if I had told you what happened at the time because I…I couldn't…" Anna searched the expression in Luke's face before she said, "I couldn't be sure that it was yours, Luke."

Luke suddenly remembered the two other pictures of two men hanging on the cardboard wall left and right from his photo. He'd completely forgotten about the other two men who might have been the father of April.

"So you cheated on me when we were together?" The realization hit him deeply. "And not only with one man but with two?" Luke wanted to stand up and leave. He'd heard enough. How could she have done something like that to him? He'd loved her for God's sake. They'd been happy and Luke had been about to ask her to marry him after the diner had finally made enough money to nurture more than just him alone.

"No, I didn't cheat on you, Luke, at least not consciously."

"What do you mean not consciously?" He didn't get it.

"Luke, please listen to me, will you?" Anna pleaded with him. This was the most difficult part of the story and she wanted him to understand that she would never have cheated on him on purpose.

"Okay."

"Luke, do you remember the birthday party of Greg Mitchell?" When Luke nodded after a few moments of thinking, Anna continued, "It was late and you wanted to go home to get at least a few hours of sleep before you had to open your diner." Luke nodded again, signaling that he remembered. "You know, Luke, I was kind of mad at you and your job. You always brought me home early, you always had to go to bed early and I…I got kinda sick of you being such a spoilsport at this party. I wanted to enjoy this party a little longer but you insisted on driving home and I got mad at you and told you to leave without me because I could enjoy this party much better without you. Well, at least I told you so to make you angry. And of course you were angry and you drove off without even a glance back."

Anna paused, taking a sip of tea while Luke watched her, not saying a word although he remembered very well the night of that party and how angry he'd been about her stubbornness.

"Luke, the next day I told you that the party had been a blast but that wasn't true, at least not for me. I drank too much and at one point I found myself lying in a bed, hardly remembering how I got there. I could only remember that I'd stripped for Greg and his friends standing on a table and I remembered Greg and his brother Tim touching me in places I never should have allowed them to touch. I was ashamed of myself. I couldn't look you in the eyes anymore. You asked me what the matter was but I couldn't tell you, ever. Breaking up with you and moving away from Litchfield was the only right thing to do after learning three weeks later that I was pregnant with a child I couldn't even tell who the father was. I'm sorry, Luke."

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So she'd lived with this shame and burden for thirteen years, only knowing for sure that her former boyfriend Luke Danes was really the father of her child because of the science project of her daughter. Luke sat in his truck heading home. It was late – hopefully not too late. He hoped that Lorelai was still at the Inn, because he didn't know how to face her with all those emotions whirling around in his mind. What he learned tonight was too much to process for one day – even for him.

No such luck.

Lorelai's jeep was standing on the not marked driveway and the house was fully lighted when he reached the estate. He turned off the ignition and leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes. He needed some moments to collect his thoughts. The last two weeks had been torture for him. Seeing Lorelai so happy about Rory's homecoming had him wanting not to destroy their happiness with his news. Everyday he'd have the intention to talk to Lorelai, all the time knowing that he couldn't do it. But tonight there wouldn't be a way out. Lorelai would demand to know where he'd been and this would be the perfect opportunity to explain everything. Maybe Lorelai would understand. Maybe Lorelai would forgive him two weeks of secrecy despite their agreement of never hiding a secret again. Maybe Lorelai would love him enough to accept his twelve-year old daughter and welcome her in their lives, because Anna had asked Luke to take care of April for the next three months. He didn't know how to tell Lorelai _that_ but he had to jump right into it because Anna didn't have much more time to waste. She should have put herself into the care of the doctor's to undergo any treatment that was possible to prevent the uterine cancer from growing months ago, but she'd postponed it again and again because she hadn't known where to leave April.

She heard the car pulling up the driveway and steeled herself for the talk to come. Rory wasn't home, thank God. Lorelai didn't want her daughter to overhear her mother and Luke fight because there would be a fight. Lorelai was sure of it. She'd come home an hour ago, finding the house empty and dark although it was midnight already. They'd had a date that involved the bathtub and a nice massage after those long hours at the Inn tonight but Luke seemed to have forgotten all about it as well as to tell her where he'd go. She was still furious about his turned off cell phone and her mind was reeling with pictures of him in the arms of another woman when the front door was being opened and closed and Luke stepped into the kitchen, looking at her, guilt written all over his face when he saw her sitting at the kitchen table with traces of tears in her face.

"I'm sorry, Lorelai." Luke didn't even dare to step closer toward Lorelai because her steely posture didn't allow any kind of affection at this moment.

"Where have you been?" Lorelai demanded to know, her voice hoarse from crying.

Now was the time to confess. It wasn't the best of all times, but despite their tiredness, despite their mutual pain they felt right now – him because of Anna and her story and Lorelai because of him abandoning her tonight – he would have to tell her as much as she wanted to know, even if they had to talk the whole night.

"I had to talk to the mother of my daughter, so I went to Litchfield where she lives," Luke answered as calmly as he could.

"You had to talk to the…_What_?"

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**Author's note: Now this was chapter two, guys. I hope you aren't too mad at me because the talk between Luke and Lorelai is only at the beginning, but I had to introduce you to Anna a bit more than I thought and I hope that you don't find her story too far fetched. I mean hello? What's your explanation for the two other guys that were possible fathers of April?**

**I hope I can write the third chapter before the next episode will be broadcasted on January, 10. But please don't stone me if I don't make it in time, okay? My story will go the way I have it in mind, no matter what the next episodes will bring.**


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